Mark Hunt is injured, Lavar Johnson to face Stefan Struve at UFC 146
Lavar Johnson (17-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will be replacing Mark Hunt (8-7 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in a Heavyweight fight against Stefan “Skyskraper” Struve (23-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at UFC 146, which takes place May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Hunt was forced out due to a knee injury (PCL), during training.
Hunt tweeted earlier:
@GHETTO_FABOLOUS well its my first time i had to pull out of a fight
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 17, 2012
its a sore leg injury pcl lol
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 17, 2012
Johnson stepped up for the opportunity and is coming in fresh off of a first-round TKO over Pat Barry at UFC on FOX 3 on March 5, which won him “Knockout of the Night”.
On UFC.com, Johnson was quoted as saying: “I heard last night there was a chance I could get this fight and I accepted right away. You don’t get chances like this too much in life, so when you are lucky, you got to make the most of it. I took one week off after (my) last fight and then went back to the gym. I used to have some drinks, gets some BBQ in my belly, and get a little out of shape right after a fight. But I feel that I am now at a level where I need to be in shape all the time, so I stayed in shape and I can now seize this chance.”
Commenting on his opponent, Johnson had this to say: “Struve is a great fighter. He’s a skilled guy with a lot of heart but I am not worried about his size. His reach is 83inches and mine is 82, and he doesn’t use his height. He always gets the crap beat out of him, he refuses to quit, then his opponent gasses or has to let up and Struve comes back to win. I am a fan of his actually, and I’ve cheered for him because of his heart. The only way to beat him is to put him out cold. That’s what I have to do next week and I will do it.”
Struve, coming off two recent victories, himself, had nothing but praise for Johnson: “Johnson has looked impressive in his first two fights in the Octagon since coming over from Strikeforce, but I’m gonna look even more impressive next week. I really want to thank him for stepping up on such short notice – I really wanted to fight on this all-heavyweight card – but he’s gonna face the best Stefan Struve you’ve ever seen. The change in opponent doesn’t bother me at all, Mark Hunt was a big puncher too and I have trained too hard for this to affect me.”
In a card studded with twists and turns, this may or may not be the last changeup to UFC 146. Stay tuned to Lowkick.com for more updates.
